Feathered Quill Book Reviews

 #Bookreview of An Umbrella Made for a Man

By: Katherine Elberfeld

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Publication Date: July 8, 2025

ISBN: 979-8891326910

Reviewed by: Diana Coyle

Review Date: June 19, 2025

In An Umbrella Made for a Man by Katherine Elberfeld, we are introduced to Irene Maxwell, a woman who, after divorcing, decides that she wants to pursue being ordained as an Episcopal priest. This takes place in the 1990’s and although there are other women that are ordained in the Episcopal Church, Irene has no idea just how intense the seminary training will be for her because she’s a female. Plus, it isn’t until she’s officially working as an ordained priest that she truly understands the gravity of how she will be harassed in many different ways, by not only the male priests, but also the congregants. It is at numerous junctures in her new career that she second guesses the choice she made to follow her calling to the church.

This reviewer was very much enlightened in regard to how Irene truly was treated by fellow priests and congregants in the Episcopal community. Instead of the male priests looking upon her as a fellow priest no matter her sex, they looked upon her as a female that wouldn’t mind the overtures they were presenting her with. They treated her like she was a female they could harass and they intentionally overstepped their boundaries with her to achieve their personal goals.

Although this is a work of fiction, Katherine Elberfeld penned this with substantial evidence to create this story because she too was ordained to the priesthood in 1994. Readers will feel her anguish that she must have experienced directly while training and working to become an Episcopal priest. It’s disheartening to know that these circumstances could truly exist in the religious environment that they did, where religion should not discriminate in any form toward male or female. One must wonder that if she experienced such outlandish behaviors in the religious community, how many other females in her position experienced the same exact behaviors from their churches? Church should have been a safe haven for her and the other female priests, not a place that caused them dread and heartache. Their sole focus should have been serving their congregation, not trying to skirt advances from their male counterparts.

Another thing to mention was that these situations didn’t just happen in one Episcopal Church location. They happened repeatedly each time that Irene relocated herself in order to escape the harassment. It’s saddening to think that even though this story was a work of fiction, Elberfeld must have seen plenty of these circumstances, mimicking Irene’s situations, throughout her own time serving her ministry.

Quill says: Readers of An Umbrella Made for a Man by Katherine Elberfeld will find themselves cheering for Irene regarding how she handled her unfortunate circumstances while fulfilling her ministry. You’ll develop feelings for her as if she was a real person you might know and become friends with.

For more information about An Umbrella Made for a Man, please visit the publisher's website at: atmospherepress.com/books/an-umbrella-made-for-a-man-by-katherine-elberfeld